


Small Comforts

by Craftybadger1234



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Cuddling & Snuggling, Don't copy to another site, Fluff, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Secret Relationship, Supportive Ron Weasley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 00:57:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21262478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Craftybadger1234/pseuds/Craftybadger1234
Summary: Ron is certain that if anyone deserves small comforts, it's Harry.





	Small Comforts

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to CleopatraIsMyName for looking this over for me!

Ron sighed at the jars of fire arrayed on the table in front of him. A burst of laughter from another corner of the eighth year common room drew his eye and he wished he was doing anything else at this moment than working on this bloody Charms project. 

“So,” he said brightly to Hermione sitting next to him, “ready for a break yet?” He slid his arm around her waist and laid his head on her chest.

As expected, she laughed lightly and ran her fingers through his hair. She kissed the top of his head and said, “All right, we can put it away for now. Maybe go over it one more time after dinner so we’re ready for our presentation tomorrow.” She gently pushed him away and dipped her quill in ink. “Just let me finish this last part.”

“Honestly, how many times can you tweak your speech? It’s fine as it is.” Thankfully, Harry landed in the seat across from them before Hermione could begin a lecture on the importance of this presentation. As if eight weeks of preparation weren’t enough. “Mate, tell her it’s good enough so we can go steal food from the kitchens and picnic by the lake.”

“But this presentation is so important!” Harry said with an easy laugh. Ron returned the grin, happy to see Harry free of his weighty depression. “Maybe if you’d stuck to the schedule Hermione set in the first place, you’d be done by now. Draco and I finished ages ago.”

“It’s still so weird to hear you call him Draco,” Ron said lightly, wondering how Harry could grin so freely at the mention of Draco Malfoy. 

Hermione scoffed, still looking at her parchment, “It’s a shame you had to be paired with him for this project. He calls to mind too many horrible moments to bear.”

Ron watched Harry sink into himself and fiddle with his t-shirt hem. “It’s not been all bad. We’ve actually had a good time of it. He’s brilliant at concealment charms. Even showed me a few that would have been helpful on our hunt.” Harry looked across the room, to the sitting area by the window where Malfoy had his head bent close to Blaise Zabini. Once, Ron would have taken their whispering for suspicious plotting behavior. Now… now he had put a war behind him and felt too tired to care.

“Probably needs it to sneak up on muggles and scare the life out of them.” Hermione rolled her eyes as she dipped her quill in ink.

“Actually,” Harry said, steel returning to his voice, “he needed them for much the same reason we did.”

Hiding from Death Eaters. That’s what they did, for far too long. Why would Draco Malfoy need to hide from his own people? Ron glanced over to the window again, in time to see Malfoy laughing at something. Not the ugly, sneering laugh he’d used when they were young. This was light, and open. The sort of laugh only someone free of burden could manage.

The sort of laugh Harry had only managed recently.

Pieces shifted and turned in Ron’s mind until a picture began to form, but his thoughts were interrupted by Harry clearing his throat. “Yeah, so speaking of Draco…”

But Hermione cut him off. “Harry, since we started these projects, we’ve hardly seen you. And every time we do, it’s ‘Draco this,’ and ‘Draco that.’ Do you think we could get through a conversation without mentioning Draco Malfoy? He’s nothing but bad judgement and bad memories.”

She didn’t even look up from her parchment, so she didn’t see what Ron saw. Harry shutting down, scrubbing at his hair, sighing down at his lap. Slowly rising to his feet, but not managing to stand up straight.

“Yeah… all right… well, I just had an early lunch, so I’m not in the mood for a picnic. Think I’ll go and lie down for a bit. Catch you two after dinner.” 

Only... Ron knew that wasn’t true. He and Hermione would be working on their presentation, and Harry would be left on his own. Again. Although their Charms projects had been interesting, it hadn’t left much time for the three of them to spend time together. Since Malfoy and Harry didn’t have similar schedules, they’d done most of their work in the evenings and late at night, while Ron and Hermione had worked on their project during their daytime free period.

“What about Transfiguration this afternoon?” Ron asked.

But Harry sighed, “Don’t really feel like it. Wake me for dinner.” As he crossed the common room, he made eye contact with Malfoy and shook his head. Malfoy nodded and shouldered his bag, heading out to class with Zabini.

“Hermione!” Ron scolded quietly, “Harry had something to tell us and you blew him off completely!”

She blew raspberries at him and charmed her parchment dry. “Nonsense. What could he possibly have to say about Draco Malfoy?”

“I don’t know, but it looked important. You weren’t very nice to him.”

“Oh.” Hermione frowned at her parchment and slowly started rolling it up. Ron waited patiently for her to think it over. “I didn’t mean to… it’s just… _Draco Malfoy_? Really?”

Ron shrugged. “I don’t know, but he was smiling for once and that counts for something right? Put this away, and I’ll see if I can talk to him.”

Ron went down the boys hall to Harry’s room, but Harry had already vanished the doorknob so no one could get in. Maybe it would be better to let him sleep it off. Instead, he left with Hermione to the Great Hall for lunch. It was too cold for a picnic anyway.

On their way to Transfiguration, Hermione smiled apologetically and promised to talk with Harry after dinner. He knew her temper ran away with her, just like his occasionally did. He forgave her with a light kiss to her cheek, which she returned with a swirling caress of his inner wrist. It made him smile as he took her hand, these small comforts from someone he loved.

\--------

As expected, they didn’t see Harry after dinner. Ron and Hermione practiced their presentation, a demonstration of an array of fire and light charms. Harry and Malfoy had their materials spread out on the table, but they didn’t seem to be working on anything. And if they’d finished ages ago, as Harry said, then what exactly were they doing? But any time Ron approached, their conversation was always about concealment charms.

Ron finally gave up and went to bed. They could talk to Harry tomorrow. Or plan something special in the evening, now that their projects were finally finished.

But falling asleep proved impossible. He felt guilty for ignoring Harry all these weeks, and for letting Hermione scare him off this afternoon. Maybe he was back in bed, or still in the common room with Malfoy.

Quietly, Ron crept down the hall to the common room, where a faint light still shined. And yes, Harry and Malfoy were still awake. And sitting _very_ close together on the sofa. Harry slouched in his seat just to the right of centre, his feet propped on the coffee table, and a magazine in hand. Malfoy was curled up, sitting on his feet, wedged in between Harry and the end of the sofa with his bent knees resting on Harry’s thigh. One hand stretched across behind Harry’s head and the other held a book.

Ron almost called a soft greeting, just to see what they would say or do, but then Harry sighed and tossed his magazine to the table. He slouched lower in the sofa and rested his head on Malfoy’s chest. Malfoy set his book to floating in front of him and draped an arm over Harry’s waist. He ran his fingers through Harry's messy locks, smoothing it away from his face. Ron couldn’t hear what Malfoy whispered, but it made Harry smile and nod.

The smile changed Ron's plans completely. He backed away, quiet as a mooncalf, and let them have their moment. He returned to his room, already thinking of how to break it to Hermione so she didn't ruin it.

If anyone deserved the small comforts that brought such a smile, it was Harry.


End file.
